Page 47 of Nova Academy

‘Nothing! I didn’t do anything.’

‘Liar,’ I accused. ‘He wouldn’t be shutting down if you hadn’t done anything.Tell me what you did!’

I was screaming in his face at that point, but I was so angry at the thought of him hurting my friend that I couldn’t stop myself. Iwasn’t thinking about the ramifications.

‘Fine! Okay, something happened between us, but I didn’t do anything wrong,’ he insisted.

I backed off, forcing myself to cool down so I could hear what he had to say. I waved a hand for him to continue.

‘Things got hot and heavy this morning, but I didn’t do anything he wasn’t allowing me to,’ he informed me, but I was confused. If he and Arty were intimate last night, then did he know the secret?

‘Go on,’ I pushed, knowing there was more to the story.

He sighed, running a hand over the top of his head. ‘Look, one minute everything was great. We were making out on the bed and the next, he flipped me and pinned me by the throat.’

Xander and Reece both cleared their throats, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. Xan shot me a look that screamedI told you so, but I didn’t understand why. He clearly wasn’t comprehending the situation.

‘And you stopped?’

‘Of course. I wouldn’t force someone like that. He made it clear that things wouldn’t be going further, and that was that. He shut down, and I’ve been trying to act normal all day but it’s not working. I didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable, and he really did seem into it before he put a stop to it.’

Well, things made a lot more sense now. Artemis was spooked from almost getting caught, and if her feelings for Brommyt were real, then now wonder she was so upset over the whole ordeal. I couldn’t imagine finding out your feelings for someone were reciprocated only to have to turn them down because they were forbidden.

‘It wasn’t you,’ I told him. I was glad he hadn’t hurt Arty, at least not intentionally, and I could see he was genuinely confused and sad about the rejection. But was that the case? I would need to find out in order to properly proceed with damage control.

‘How do you feel about him?’ I asked.

‘What?’

‘Do you like him? Want to pursue a relationship with him? What is it that you want to happen?’ I elaborated.

‘I… I haven’t really thought that far ahead.’

I breathed in a deep breath and let it out, frustrated on Arty’s behalf. ‘Then don’t try anything like that again. Arty doesn’t need that sort of confusion and complication in his life, you hear me?’ I chastised.

‘I hear you,’ he placated, backing up a step.

‘Good. Now get to bed. You have combat training in the morning again, and you need your rest.’

Reece was already escaping to the spare bedroom, and Brommyt followed quickly behind. Xander and I returned to his room, and he rounded on me as soon as the door closed.

‘What the fuck, Addy? You can’t go around harassing the cadets like that, especially a damnprince.’

I just shrugged my shoulders, ducked under his arm, then crawled into bed. I got my answer and I knew what I needed to do. My friend needed me, and I would be there for her. I wasn’t sure how, but I would figure it out. Just like I would figure out the rest of the mystery surrounding Artemis.

He let out an exasperated sigh but joined me in the bed. ‘I guess I was wrong about some of it, huh?’

‘Yup.’

‘I didn’t expect Mercer to have that reaction, though.’

‘I did.’

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again. ‘You know a lot more that you’re not saying, aren’t you?’

‘Yup.’

‘You gonna clue me in?’

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